The Teachers' Day playlist

While The Wall probably figures somewhere in the favourite alum list of every ad person we know, the ‘Hey teacher, leave them kids alone’ vibe from Another Brick in the Wall II, for better or worse, didn’t influence a lot of their work. Indian advertising is mainly about inspirational teachers and students who are either delightfully mischievous scamps or teacher’s pets. In short, not the kinds of kids we were or liked to hang out with back in school

However on Teachers' Day we give you a roll call of ads about teachers, students and the impact they have on each other’s lives.

Given the role the best teachers are capable of having on the lives of their young students, is it any wonder that one of them became a posterchild for a campaign built around the concept of The Complete Man? The first film in the series had a Goodbye Mr Chips vibe to it, with a bunch of children bidding a tearful farewell to an old teacher on the day of his retirement. The ad was popular enough to warrant a sequel in which the old professor is skulking about at a wedding, trying to keep a low profile (like he was there to whack the cutlery as a highly cynical and uncharitable friend of ours once put it). But on being spotted by his former students, the aged guru finds himself the centre of attention all over again.

The kids in this ad are busy fighting over a share of the contents of a bottle and suddenly scatter on hearing the approach of a ‘masterji’. They continue to pass the bottle around even when the risk of capture is imminent. But since this ad was from a simpler time, the primary contraband, shared furtively by young kids, is nothing more serious or worrying than a bottle of Hajmola. The teacher is central to the script even if he makes an appearance only in the last second.

On finding that Rosie Miss is mourning the death of her dead dog, the class clown decides to cheer her up by, at least temporarily. He fills the void, quite literally mucking about, doing all the things the pooch would have done. While the ads heart was in the right place, we found it just a tad bizarre. Stick to getting your teacher an actual puppy next time, kid.

We have it on good authority that Coca-Cola initially wanted a desi professor in this ad as a nod to the sheer number of Indian academics in American universities. After expanding his wards mind to the possibilities represented by the world, a la Robin Williams in Dead Poet’s Society, the prof concludes that sometimes a Coke is just a Coke.